| Praying with the Right Mindset |
| You...do not receive, because you ask amiss. James 4:3 |
| Sometimes in our prayers we are 'me' centred and see God as a genie to be conjured up to fulfil our every wish. Then when we don't get what we want we think He doesn't hear, doesn't care, or maybe doesn't exist. James says, 'You...do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.' Selfishness is at the root of many unanswered prayers. The first petition in the Lord's Prayer is 'Hallowed be Your name', the second 'Your Kingdom come' and the third, 'Your will be done' (Matthew 6:9-10 NKJV). Note, our first concern in prayer should be what God wants, not what we want. So here are some suggestions for praying with the right mindset: 1) Ask God to slay your sinful nature. As new creatures in Christ we wrestle daily with our old nature. And as long as that nature has the upper hand, our prayers will be hindered. 2) Ask Him to cleanse you with His blood. You can't come into God's presence tainted by sin; you must confess it and ask Him to forgive you. 3) Ask Him to fill you with the Holy Spirit. The indwelling of God's Spirit enables you to overcome temptation and live according to His will. 4) Ask Him to guard and guide your steps. God's plan for our lives is always better than anything we could ever devise. 5) Ask Him to use you for His glory. Make yourself available as a servant with a willing heart to do whatever He asks. Bottom line: when you pray with the right mindset you'll get answers you never imagined possible. |
That was my daily reading for today from UCB UK!
The other day, I had a catch up over a brew with one of my lovely prayer partners and mentors and after she left, I sat down and decided to spend some time with God. I felt like I should wait and let Him speak first although I had soooooooo sooooooooo much I wanted to say to Him, to tell Him, to let Him know about and to lay down at His feet. After a few minutes of me trying to be quiet, I felt suddenly that this is what we do as Christians!
See, I had met with my mentor for an hour and a half and then it was 1pm and I had to be somewhere by 2:50, so in my mind, I had set aside an hour 'FOR GOD', and then would need togo out and I realised we do this ALL the time, don't we? We set aside some time and then EXPECT God to turn up in the pitiful few minutes we have laid aside for Him. He's not working on our time; He's working on His.
I'm not saying that when we sit down in our quiet time, God isn't going to show, but we can't give Him a few minutes out of our time and then have a time limit for how long we have before we gotta bounce. God's working on His time scale and He wants us to be ready when He calls, not when we decide we're free. He is calling the shots!!
Bethy xx
